Oz East Coast LNG Exports in January Up 9%

The three LNG export projects in the Australian state of Queensland shipped 1.93mn metric tons of LNG in January, up almost 9% year-on-year, latest data published February 7 by Gladstone Ports Corporation showed.

The three export projects in Queensland are ConocoPhillips-Origin Energy Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG), Shell’s Queensland Curtis LNG and the Santos-led Gladstone LNG.  

China was the biggest buyer last month. Asia’s biggest economy imported 1.38mn mt of LNG in January, up 3% compared with January 2018.

South Korea, the second biggest importer, imported 0.23mn mt down from 0.24mn mt in the same month of previous year.

The third biggest importer of Queensland LNG in January was Japan, which imported 0.2mn mt of LNG, up 53% year-on-year, the data showed.

In 2018, Queensland projects shipped record 20.57mn mt of LNG from Port of Gladstone, up 1.7% year-on-year.

Australia’s LNG exports have been steadily increasing owing to start up major projects. The country became the world’s largest exporter of LNG during November with total shipments at 6.6mn mt, advisory firm EnergyQuest said December 12.